Iranian officials on Thursday continued their victory lap over the U.S. midterm elections, with parliamentary speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf mocking U.S. Vice President JD Vance for displaying “losing gambler energy” in his analysis of the election results.
Vance wrote a lengthy post on social media platform X on Wednesday in which he said it was “obvious to almost everyone” that the Iran war was a major factor in Republican election losses.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote.
“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there,” he added.
A giant poster depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff looking distressed is hung at Enghelab (Revolution) Square in Tehran, Iran on November 3, 2026. (ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)
“Losing gambler energy, can’t walk away from the table. Boss is prepping the next war phase while America teeters on an Israel-First cliff. Skip the TED talk. Why not say this to your boss?” Ghalibaf sneered in response.
Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, Vice President of Executive Affairs for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, made similar comments at an economic meeting on Thursday.
“Ghaempanah said the message from U.S. voters echoes Iran’s longstanding call for Washington to stop threatening other countries and focus on its own people,” reported Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
The Iranian vice president added that “voters who had previously supported Republicans have turned away from them because they wanted wars to end, the cost of living to be addressed, America to be put first, and Washington to reconsider its ties with Israel” – all observations from Vance’s election post-mortem. In fact, Vance listed them as bullet points.
